Jesus said He is the way, so I'm following Him. He said He is the truth, and that's what I want my life to be about, too. Jesus said He is the life. I want to live that rich, full, vibrant, powerful life that Jesus offers. He is the Lover of my soul, and I the lover of Him.
This is what I'm thinking about right now, and I'd love to read what you're thinking about, too.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Avenged Sevenfold, "Nightmare" (2010)

The Lyrics: [reprinted as written by the band]

(Now you nightmare comes to life)

Dragged ya down below,
Down to the Devil’s show,
To be his guest forever,
(Peace of mind is less than never)!

Hate to twist you mind,
But God ain’t on your side,
An old acquaintance severed,
(Burn the world, your last endeavor)!

Flesh is burning, you can smell it in the air,
‘cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal.

So stand in line while they ink numbers in your head,
You’re now a slave until the end of time,
Nothing stops the madness turning,
Haunting, Yearning, Pull the trigger!

You should have known, the price of evil,
And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah
Ooooh, It’s your ******’ Nightmare!
(While your nightmare comes to life)

Can’t wake up in sweat,
‘Cause it ain’t over yet,
Still dancing with you demons,
(Victim of your creation)!

Beyond the will to fight,
Where all that’s wrong is right,
Where hate don’t need a reason
(Loathing self-assassination)!

You’ve been lied to just to rape you of your sight,
And now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel.
So sedated as they medicate your brain and while ya slowly go insane they tall ya:
“Give in with your best intentons, help you with you complications!”

You should have known the price of evil,
And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah.
No one to call,
Everybody to fear,
Your tragic fate is looking so unclear, yeah.
Ooooh, it’s your ******’ nightmare, ha-ha-ha-ha!

Fight (fight),
Not to fail (fail),
Not to fall (fall),
Or you’ll end up like the others.

Die (die),
Die again (die),
Drenched in sin (sin),
With no respect for another.

Down (down),
Feel the fire (fire),
Feel the hate (hate),
Your pain is what we desire.

Lost (lost),
Hit the wall (wall),
Watch you crawl (crawl),
Such a replaceable liar.

And I know you hear their voices (calling from above),
And I know they may seem real (these signals of love),
But our life’s made up of choices (some without appeal),
They took for granted your soul, and it’s ours now to steal
(as your nightmare comes to life)!

You should have known the price of evil,
And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah.
No one to call,
Everybody to fear,
Your tragic fate is looking so unclear, yeah…
Ooooh, it’s your ******’ nightmare!

This is the first song that's been released since the band lost their founding member, The Rev, shortly after Christmas, 2009. Is it about him?

No stranger to the excesses of self indulgence, the Rev was honest and upfront about his capacious appetite for drugs and pleasure. Yet all five members of the band grew up inside what is prosaically referred to as "the church." They all knew "the price of evil," and they all have at least a passing acquaintance with the epic story of God's love for His fallen ones, His heroic rescue of those who will love Him back, and the sweeping implications this story has in eternity.

In this song someone has crossed from life to eternity. He is being dragged down to hell, having realized that his passing acquaintance with God was not enough. His exit from life came in one last glorious blaze, but now he discovers that the fire of pleasure has become the burning of his own flesh in hell.

He thought he was powerful, adventurous, he thought he was grander than life, but in reality his soul was easily stolen, for the moment he began involving himself with evil was the moment he paid the price: slavery to sin which ultimately culminates in death and hell.

Somewhere deep inside of himself he feared this. But he would wake up, sweating, shivering in the dead of night, then look around his room to a warming sense of sweet relief, knowing it was all only a fevered nightmare. But now he can no longer wake up. Now he has begun to experience in eternity what the apostle Paul spoke of:

"From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. They claim to be wise, but they are fools. They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles."

You should have known, the price of evil,

"So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.

"God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.

"Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.

"These people don't respect their parents. They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them."

You’ve been lied to just to rape you of your sight,
And now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel.
So sedated as they medicate your brain and while ya slowly go insane they tall ya:
“Give in with your best intentons, help you with you complications!”

In his life there were those who loved him, who prayed for him, who longed for him to come home to Jesus. Perhaps he even went to church as a gesture of kindness and love towards these people (were they his family? His parents?). Maybe they hoped that by going to church, going through the motions of religion, maybe singing hymns and reading the Bible would save him from the penalty of choosing sin. But it could not.

Some choices appear unappealing to those who have embraced the dark pleasures of evil. But in the end, the price is far higher than any earthly reward could ever pretend to match...

And I know you hear their voices (calling from above),
And I know they may seem real (these signals of love),
But our life’s made up of choices (some without appeal),
They took for granted your soul, and it’s ours now to steal
(as your nightmare comes to life)!

If this post got you to thinking, please leave a comment and join the conversation

2 comments:

Very thought provoking that deep indulgence to pleasure leads to the horrific. When we forget that Christ paid the death penalty we are all under, we have to pay it ourselves in the end. Sobering thoughts to think and to share with and warn others! Thanks for posting your thoughts, Joanne.

Avenged Sevenfold is not a Christian band, by their own statement, but the band members have all come from "churched" families, and are well acquainted with the Bible and its themes. I'm following each of their songs, one a day, and writing about what these songs make me think about -- as the Spirit leads.